Nine Inch Nails Go Pop on 'Hesitation Marks' Track "Everything"

On Nine Inch Nails' new track "Everything"—the latest preview from upcoming album Hesitation Marks—Trent Reznor has once again broken new ground with his long-running outfit. But this time he isn't plunging NIN deeper into the murky depths of industrial rock. Actually, quite the opposite: He's pushing into the ebullient world of high-energy synth-pop.

Not only does "Everything" have an OMD-styled beat and hand-clap rhythms, but it even finds Reznor exhorting the listener to "shake, shake, shake!" Yes, for real. Ultimately "Everything" is still a rock song, but it has more in common with the Cars than, well, Nine Inch Nails.

But maybe we shouldn't be so surprised. After all, prior to NIN's debut Pretty Hate Machine—an album bearing the strong sonic imprint of Depeche Mode—Reznor played keyboards in a verrrrry New Wave-y '80s band called Slam Bamboo. Perhaps he just needed to return to his roots as part of a synth-pop midlife crisis?

Check out "Everything" above and compare it to Slam Bamboo tearin' it up on local television below.